Spent 4 days on a drift pin that should have taken one afternoon

Needed a tapered drift for a project and figured I'd just grind one from an old punch. Four days of fighting with the taper angle and getting the heat treat right before I just ordered a proper one from a supplier in Pittsburgh for 30 bucks. Anyone else waste time reinventing something basic instead of just buying it?

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lily9725d ago

Man, that hits way too close to home. Spent a whole weekend once trying to make a custom socket spacer with nothing but a lathe and some scrap steel. Ended up with something that kinda worked but wobbled like a loose shopping cart wheel. Finally caved and bought a proper one for like 12 bucks, and now it sits in my drawer mocking me every time I open it. My pride costs me about three days every time I try to outsmart a simple tool. At least you only dropped 30, I've got a graveyard of "almost right" parts that cost more in time than the real deal would've. Honestly, the only thing I'm good at now is knowing when to quit, but I still don't quit early enough.